Bladder expander and casket product

ABSTRACT

An expander for forming a drawn metal product such as a casket and the like. The expander includes a bladder which surrounds a ring. Hydraulic fluid is pumped into the bladder to cause the bladder to expand and force the workpiece against a rigid outer die, the hydraulic fluid being conveyed by a conduit which extends through the bladder and ring and is fixed to the ring. The above mentioned caskets have a one-piece single-seam construction for their sidewalls.

United States Patent m1 3,585,328

[72] Inventor Ralph E. Roper 2,933,765 4/1960 Richardson [8/45 T1ndlanapolls,lnd. 2,987,769 6/1961 Frohlich 18/45 T [21] Appl. No.757,541 3,033,143 /1962 Grankowski 72/63 [22] Filed Sept. 5,19683,222,902 12/1965 Brejcha et al. 72/56 5] Patented Julie 1971 3,280,60810/1966 Parilla 72/63 [73] Assignee will/Ice Expanding Machines, Inc.FOREIGN PATENTS Indianapolis, Ind.

1,139,807 11/1962 Germany 72/63 1,014,007 12/1965 Great Britain... 72/634 BLADDER EXPANDER AND CASKET PRODUCT 182,021 6/ 1922 Great Britain152/349 5 Claims 13 Drawing Primary Examiner-Richard J. Herbst 520.5.01. 72/63 Attorney-Woodard, eikart, Ernhardt & Naushwn [51] 821d22/12 [50] Field olSearch 72/63;

152/330, 4 ABSTRACT: An expander for forming a drawn metal product 350such as a casket and the like. The expander includes a bladder whichsurrounds a ring. Hydraulic fluid is pumped into the [56] ReferencesCited bladder to cause the bladder to expand and force the work- UNITEDSTATES PATENTS piece against a rigid outer die, the hydraulic fluidbeing con- 2,771,850 11/1956 Wheelon 72/63 veyed by a conduit whichextends through the bladder and 2,779,061 111957 Hosking 18/45 T ringand is fixed to the ring. The above mentioned caskets 2,873,479 2/ 1959DiPietro 18/45 '1 have a one-piece single-seam construction for theirsidewalls.

4 Z5 Z6 45 2I I I IHII I Q I H 4/ V 40 ll "III I |I 45 82 I' I] 1 40 I Il I I i i 7\ I .l I! 22 9/ 8? 86 PATENTEUJUNZZIBYI 3585.828

' swan u 0F 4 INVENTOR.

Y RALPH E ROPE/ MUWM BLADDER EXPANDER AND CASKET PRODUCT BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates toexpander apparatus and to a casket product formed thereby.

2. Description of the Prior Art Various expander devices have beencreated which include bladders as the means for exerting a force on theworkpiece. One such apparatus includes a bladder consisting of a closedsheet of flexible stretchable material having enlarged lips along thetwo edges thereof. These enlarged lips are received within two recesseseach of which extends completely around the expander apparatus. Thebladder is expanded by hydraulic fluid which fills the space between therigid portions of the expander and the bladder. In such an arrangementthere is a tendency for the hydraulic fluid to leak past the lips. Alsothere is a tendency for the bladder to wear out rapidly so that beforetoo many cycles of operation it is necessary to replace the bladder.Consequently, there is room for improvement in such bladder expanders.Examples of the patented prior art are shown in the U5. Pats. to Stary,No. 2,690,205; Peabody, ,No. 2,693,697; Margedant, No. 2,234,774 andJager, No. 2,395,832.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One embodiment of the apparatus of thisinvention might include expander apparatus comprising a bladder ofannular configuration, a ring received within said bladder, a conduitprojecting through said bladder and through said ring from a first sideof said ring to a second side thereof and opening on said second side,and means for supplying hydraulic fluid under pressure to said conduitfor expanding said bladder.

One embodiment of the product of the present invention might include acasket construction comprisinga closed sheet of plastically deformablematerial, said sheet including a single seam at which said sheet isclosed and adhered together.

One object of this invention is to provide an improved expanderapparatus.

A further object of this invention is to provide an expander apparatusincorporating a bladder which does not leak.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an expander withbladder arrangement having a longer life than existing bladderarrangements. Related objects and advantages will appear as thedescription proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The full nature of the invention willbe understood from the accompanying drawings and the followingdescription and claims.

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an expander embodying the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a closed sheet metal member which is theworkpiece for the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the expander inopen or outer die retracted position ready to receive the workpiece inFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3 in thedirection of the arrows.

FIG. Sis a vertical section taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1 in thedirection of the arrows.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view similar to FIG. 5 showing ingreater detail a portion of the structure illustrated in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 4 and showing an alternative embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a casket which forms a product of thestructure of FIGS. I through 7 and which embodies the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a vertical section taken through a portion of the structure ofFIG. 8 and additionally showing attached thereto a base for a portion ofthe structure of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the bottom and end of the casket asillustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9.

FIG. 11 is an end view of a workpiece having formed therein a cluster oftops for caskets.

FIG. 12 is a section taken through a portion of the structureillustrated in FIG. 11 showing a single-casket top and cross sectiondetached from the remainder of the cluster.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the casket top in FIGS. 11 and 12.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT For the purposes of promoting anunderstanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now bemade to the em-. bodiment illustrated in the drawings and specificlanguage will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless beunderstood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is therebyintended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrateddevice, and such further applications of the principles of the inventionas illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to oneskilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is il lustratedin detail in FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 an expander apparatus 10 whichoperates upon the cylindrically shaped enclosed sheet metal structureshown in FIG. 2 to expand it into a cluster of connected sheet metalparts. The expander includes a base 11 supported upon verticallyextending members l2 and having fixed thereto a cylindrical orring-shaped member 13. In order to locate the ring-shaped member 13 withrelation to the base 11, the member 13 is provided with a downwardly.projecting annular lip 15 which is received inboard of an upstanding lip16 on the base. An annular top plate 17 is fixed to the upper edgeof thering-shaped member 13 in similar fashion with lip 18 provided inboard ofthe downwardly projecting flange 19 whereby rigid cylindrical housing 20is provided. To provide an even further amount of strength and rigidity,four shouldered vertical pins 21 are received within suitable aperturesin the base and top plate and fix the members in spaced relation.

A plurality of radially extending keys 22 are fixed to and receivedwithin suitable radially extending apertures in the base 11. The keys 22provide trackways for four tool or die carrier members 25. Fixed to theinner faces of the tool carriers 25 are scab dies 26 which can beremoved and replaced by different shaped dies if desired depending uponthe type of part being formed. The annular top plate 17 has fixed to thelower face thereof radially extending bearings 30 which act as bearingsurfaces for the outer die carriers 25. The outer die carriers are movedinwardly by means of cam means 31 which may be in the form of a ring.

The cam ring 31 is provided with tapered inwardly facing cam surfaces 32which act against cooperating surfaces 35 on the external faces of theouter die carriers 25. A plurality of fluid cylinders 36 are fixed tothe base 11 and have their piston rods 37 fixed to the cam ring 31whereby upward projection of the piston rods 37 causes the cam surfaces32 to move across the cam surfaces 35 of the outer die carriers and tomove the outer die carriers radially inwardly. The innermost position ofthe die carriers 25 is shown in FIG. 5. In this position the verticalsurfaces 40 of the cam ring are in engagement with the vertical surfaces41 of the outer die carriers. Consequently, further vertical movement inseating of the cam rings 31 against the top plate 17 produces nocorresponding radial movement of the die carriers and the die carriersare locked in the illustrated inward position by the surfaces 40 and 41.

Spring means 45 function to retract the outer die carriers 30. Each ofthe spring means 45 includes a rod 46 fixed to a respective outer diecarrier 30 and extending through a suitable aperture in thering-shapedmember 13. At the outer end of each rod 46 there is fixed a stop element47 against which bears a respective compression spring 50. The inwardend of the compression spring 50 bears against the outer surface of thering-shaped member 13. Thus it can be seen when the apparatus is in theposition of FIGS. 3 and 1 the compression spring 50 is separated or hasits turns separated apart while when in the position of FIG. 5, forexample, the various turns of the compression springs are in contactwith one another as illustrated in FIG. 5. It can be appreciated fromthe inner configuration of the dies 26 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3that the cross-sectional configuration of the part being formed by theparticular illustrated dies is circular in cross section. It should bementioned, however, that various shaped parts can be formed by thepresent apparatus and they need not be circular in cross section. Itwill be noted, however, hat when the various outer dies have been movedinwardly to the position of FIG. 1, all of the dies 26 are contactingadjacent dies so that a continuous outer die forming surface ispresented.

Coaxial with the base 11 there is mounted a bladder arrangement 50. Thebladder arrangement 51) includes a pair of supporting members 51 and 52which are fixed to the base III by a plurality of rods 55 and nuts 56,the rods 55 being threaded into the base 111. Fixedly clamped betweenthe two supporting members 51 and 52 is a hydraulic conduit 57.

. Referring to FIG. 6, the hydraulic conduit 57 has fixed thereto anannular collar 60 having a passage 61 therethrough in communication withthe conduit 57. The conduit 57 is clamped between the two members 51 and52 by means of a nut 62 which is threaded onto external threads on theou side of the member 60. The nut 62 bears against the bladder 65 and anannular L-shaped cross-sectional metal member 66 so as to force themember 66 and the bladder 65 hard against the annular member 60 so as toprevent leakage between the bladder 65 and the member 60.

The L-shaped member 66 is secured to the member 60 by means of epoxycement 67 which is placed in the mold between the collar 60 and theL-shaped cross-sectional member 66 when the bladder 65 is molded. Thebladder, being formed of urethane, bonds to the epoxy cement 67 so as toprovide an integral construction. When the bladder 65 is molded, notonly are the members 60 and 66 as well as the cement 67 placed in themold in the position shown but the annular member 741 is also placed inthe mold and fixed to the member 6111. Petroleum jelly is placed on theexternal surface of the member 70 and particularly on the externalsurface 71 thereof and not on the internal surface '72 thereof. Thus theurethane making up the bladder 65 tends to adhere to the surface 72 butbecause of the petroleum jelly on the surface 71 does not adhere to thatsurface. In other words, during operation of the present apparatus thefact that the external surface 71 has petroleum jelly on it permits thebladder to move outwardly and to expand away from the surface 71 to theexpanded position shown in FIG. 5.

In order to form a part such as, or example, the casket illustrated inFIG. 8, the workpiece of FIG. 2 is placed inside of the outer die 26 andoutside of the bladder 65. It should be mentioned that the particularscab dies 26 illustrated are intended for the production of washingmachine tubs. However, those dies could be appropriately replaced byexternal dies making possible the expansion of the construction shownin, for example, FIG. 8. The outer cam ring 31 is then moved from theposition of FIG. 4 to the position of FIG. by projection of the pistonrods 37 of the cylinders 36. The outer die will then mate with thebladder support members 51 and 52 as illustrated in FIG. 5. It will benoted that a key 80 is provided for each outer die member and isreceived within a suitable recess 81 appropriately located in thebladder support member 52. Also fixed to the respective outer dies 26are members 62 which engage an upwardly facing abutment surface 85 onthe lower support member 51. Such engagement is illustrated in FIG. 5.

The apparatus is now in readiness for the expansion of the bladder 65.Hydraulic fluid under pressure is introduced into the bladder 65 throughthe conduit 57. As the bladder is filled it moves away from the externalsurface 71 of the ring-shaped member 70 and forces the workpiece againstthe internal surfaces of the scab dies 26 to form the workpiece into thedesired configuration. After forming is complete, the bladder is drainedof the hydraulic fluid trough the conduit 57 and the external dies aremoved outwardly by retraction of the piston rods 37 which causes thesprings 35 to move the external dies 26 radially outwardly. The formedpart is then removed from the apparatus by upward projection of pistons88 which are vertically reciprocal in the base member 11 and which havea ring 89 and pads 91 at there upper ends for engaging and lifting theformed workpiece. The ejector pistons are operated by cylinders 87 fixedto the base 11. The rod is fixed to ring 89 and operates a microswitch(not shown).

Referring to FIG. 7, there is illustrated an improvement on theapparatus illustrated in FIGS. 16. The structure illustrated in FIG. 7is identical to that of FIGS. 1-6 with the exception that a pair ofannular boots 200 are placed so as to surround the bladder 65 at thelower and upper ends thereof but with the center portion of the bladder65 uncovered. The boots are secured to the members 51 and 52 by screwsposi tioned at the lines 201. The boots 200 are formed of the sameflexible urethane material as is the bladder 65. When the bladder 65 isexpanded it has been found that the boots 200 prevent a substantialamount of wear at the portions of the bladder where the metal is movingthe greatest so that normally these portions would be very greatly wornand would cause the bladders useful life to be substantially reduced. Atthe center of the bladder 65 there is not a substantial amount of metalmovement and consequently a little wear occurs in this area. After theboots 200 have become so completely worn as to be no longer useful, theycan be replaced and the initial bladder 65 continued in use for a longeruseful life.

Referring now to FIG. 8, there is illustrated a casket constructionwhich might be formed by the apparatus of the present invention. It canbe seen that the casket construction includes a closed sheet ofplastically deformable metal which is welded closed along the line 101.The external surface of the sheet 100 is formed with various attractiveconfigurations 102 normally desired and found in caskets. The base ofthe casket may consist of a single flat sheet of metal 105 which iswelded to the inturned lower flange 1106 of the casket as shown in FIGS.9 and Ill).

The casket top is illustrated in FIG. 13. The top of the casket can beformed as a cluster of parts illustrated in FIG. 11. Such a cluster ofparts can be formed by use of the expander apparatus illustrated in myUS. Pat. No. 3,222,910 or may be formed by the apparatus illustrated inthe present application. After the cluster of parts has been formed asillustrated in FIG. Ill they are separated to provide individual caskettops as shown in FIG. 12.

It will be evident that the present invention provides an improvedcasket construction and also provides an improved expander apparatus. Itwill be further evident that the expander apparatus of the presentinvention incorporates a bladder which does not leak. It can also beseen that the expander apparatus of this invention provides a bladderwhich has a longer life than existing bladder arrangements.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing descriptions, the same is to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood thatonly the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that allchanges and modifications that come within the spirit of the inventionand the scope of the claims are also desired to be protected.

Iclaim:

1. Expander apparatus comprising a bladder of toroidal configurationhaving an outer wall and an inner wall integrally joined a ring-shapedband member received within and coaxial with said bladder, a conduitcommunicating with said bladder through said ring-shaped member, meansfor supplying hydraulic fluid under pressure through said conduit forexpanding said bladder, a set of outer dies positioned outwardly of saidbladder, said bladder being expandable to force a workpiece against saidouter dies, and support means for said bladder and ring-shaped member,said support means positioning said bladder in fixed relation to saidouter dies and preventing inward expansion of said bladder.

2. The expander apparatus of claim 1 additionally comprising a collarreceiving said conduit and opening in said bladder, an annular memberembedded in said bladder and surrounding said collar outwardly of thearea at which said conduit communicates through said ring-shaped member,said collar being secured to said ring-shaped member.

3. The expander apparatus of claim 2 wherein said bladder is adhered tosaid ring-shaped member adjacent said conduit on said first side of saidring-shaped member and wherein said bladder is otherwise separated fromsaid ring-shaped member

1. Expander apparatus comprising a bladder of toroidal configurationhaving an outer wall and an inner wall integrally joined a ring-shapedband member received within and coaxial with said bladder, a conduitcommunicating with said bladder through said ring-shaped member, meansfor supplying hydraulic fluid under pressure through said conduit forexpanding said bladder, a set of outer dies positioned outwardly of saidbladder, said bladder being expandable to force a workpiece against saidouter dies, and support means for said bladder and ring-shaped member,said support means positioning said bladder in fixed relation to saidouter dies and preventing inward expansion of said bladder.
 2. Theexpander apparatus of claim 1 additionally comprising a collar receivingsaid conduit and opening in said bladder, an annular member embedded insaid bladder and surrounding said collar outwardly of the area at whichsaid conduit communicates through said ring-shaped member, said collarbeing secured to said ring-shaped member.
 3. The expander apparatus ofclaim 2 wherein said bladder is adhered to said ring-shaped memberadjacent said conduit on said first side of said ring-shaped member andwherein said bladder is otherwise separated from said ring-shaped memberby petroleum jelly.
 4. The expander apparatus of claim 2 additionallycomprising epoxy cement securing and positioning aid annular memberrelative to said ring-shaped member, said epoxy cement forming a part ofsaid bladder, said bladder being otherwise formed of urethane whichbonds to said epoxy.
 5. the expander apparatus of claim 1 additionallycomprising a pair of boots of expandable flexible material surroundingsaid bladder at the upper and lower ends thereof.